I started by watching videos, and I chose 10,000 combat power.

As the Imperial Marshal spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Lyle. He failed to notice that behind Lyle's goggles, his eyes held no excitement or fervor, only utter despair.

He didn't notice that dozens of headless corpses lay at Lyle's feet, and dark red bodily fluids spread across the floor, flowing down to his feet and soaking the soles of his shoes.

He didn't notice that in the darkness outside the porthole, the wreckage of twenty-nine spaceships and the remains of thousands of Caldar soldiers floated.

He also failed to notice the expressionless young man from the Dragon Kingdom standing next to Lyle.

Luo Fei stood there, hands in his pockets, listening to the Imperial Marshal's speech, listening to the fanaticism, excitement, and greed in his words.

His expression remained calm, without any change.

But his eyes twitched slightly.

Those cancer cells lying in hospital wards, considered incurable by humans on Earth.

What Earth's humans avoid at all costs has become, in their eyes, the key to eternal life.

Luo Fei thought to himself that whether this so-called "immortal substance" was real or fake, and whether the Calda civilization could extract the secret of immortality from cancer cells, none of that mattered. What mattered was that they had dispatched almost their entire fleet, setting out with their sole purpose: to reach Earth.

But the Imperial Marshal was still talking—he was still gesturing and shouting, still waving his fists, still mobilizing more fleets, still urging Lyle to defend the Blue Star, and still fantasizing about becoming the master of the universe.

Finally, the marshal realized something was wrong.

He found that Lyle remained silent and unresponsive, standing there like a statue, completely still.

He squinted, his two thin, black, vertical pupils contracting slightly within his dark red irises, like a camera adjusting its focus.

His gaze passed over Lyle's shoulder, over his helmet, and landed on the man in the dark jacket next to Lyle.

"Lyle, who is standing next to you? He's not a Caldar. Why is he on your bridge? Where are your soldiers? Where is your first mate?"

His voice shifted from fervor to calm, and then from calm to alertness.

His vertical pupils contracted even more, to the point that they were almost invisible.

Luo Fei walked to the front of the holographic projection and stood in the center of the Imperial Marshal's line of sight.

He still gripped the meteorite sword in his right hand and spoke to the marshal in an icy tone.

"You want to conquer Earth, enslave its people, and search for the secret of immortality on Earth."

"Then I will tell you the result—your fleet that crossed the sea of ​​stars today, thirty ships and thousands of soldiers, have all perished here, with not a single survivor."

"This mothership that you thought could defend Earth is now in my hands. No matter how many fleets or personnel you send later, I will accept them all."

The Imperial Marshal's vertical pupils instantly expanded to their maximum size, like two black holes, completely swallowing the dark red iris.

His mouth opened, revealing two rows of dark yellow sharp teeth.

His horns trembled violently under the light.

"You...you are..." His voice sounded as if someone was choking him, each syllable squeezed out was broken and incomplete.

His fingers clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. His deputies behind him reacted even more violently—some took a step back, some stood up from their chairs, and some stared with their mouths open.

Luo Fei didn't wait for him to finish speaking, nor was there any need to. A bright orange flame suddenly ignited on the dark gray blade of the meteorite iron sword in his right hand.

Lyle saw the orange-red flame on the blade.

His pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints, and his mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

He wanted to run, to hide, to kneel down and beg for mercy, but his legs wouldn't obey him; he was frozen in place, unable to move.

Luo Fei swung his sword.

It was a diagonal slash, the blade cutting into Lyle's left shoulder and slicing out from his right rib.

The arc, illuminated by the dim red light, resembled a bolt of lightning, lighting up the entire bridge, the face of the Imperial Marshal in the holographic projection, and the anger on his face.

Lyle's body was cut diagonally in half, and his upper body slid off his lower body, hitting the floor with a dull thud.

The armor he had always been so proud of seemed to vanish in the face of that sword.

Dark red fluid gushed from his body, spreading across the floor and merging into the blood of the soldiers, forming a dark red lake that was slowly congealing.

Luo Fei put the knife back into his ring.

He looked up and gazed at the Imperial Marshal in the holographic projection.

The marshal's vertical pupils had shrunk to a black line, and that line was trembling and spasming.

His mouth remained open, but he could no longer make a sound.

Luo Fei spoke, uttering his last words.

"The Earth is not your prey. The people of the Earth are not someone you can afford to offend. No matter how many of your fleets come, I will destroy them all. If your civilization dares to send out its entire force, I will wipe out your civilization. You want immortality? I can make you die a complete death, leaving not even ashes behind."

He reached out and pressed a button on the holographic projection's control panel, and the communication was immediately cut off.

The room vanished, and so did the Imperial Marshal's face.

Silence returned to the bridge, leaving only the dim red lights, the dark red bodily fluids on the floor, the headless corpses, and Captain Lyle, cut in half.

Xiao Wan's voice came from the speaker, soft and calm, as if nothing had happened.

"Captain, full control of the mothership has been achieved. All systems are functioning normally. Weapon systems are unlocked and can be activated at any time upon your command. Additionally, the live broadcast from Earth is still ongoing. Should we cut off the signal?"

Luo Fei turned around to face the live broadcast ball.

Since entering the bridge, it has been hovering there, silently recording everything around it, and the entire planet Earth has witnessed it all.

He spoke.

The live broadcast delivered every word clearly to every screen on Earth.

"The vanguard fleet of the Calda civilization, consisting of thirty spaceships, including this mothership, has been completely annihilated. All combat personnel on board have been killed. The mothership is now under my control."

He paused for a moment. The chat in the live stream instantly erupted, but Luo Fei couldn't see it; he just continued talking.

"However, the crisis is not over. The Calda civilization has dispatched almost its entire fleet, which is heading towards Blue Star. More ships, more enemies, and stronger firepower."

"They won't give up just because an advance team is destroyed. On the contrary, they'll become even more frenzied because they've discovered what they want on Earth. They won't stop, they won't retreat, they won't negotiate. The word 'peace' doesn't exist in their dictionary; it only contains plunder and enslavement."

He paused, his gaze fixed on the live broadcast.

"Therefore, everyone on Earth must be prepared. The United Government will release follow-up defense plans and mobilization plans."

"We need more weapons, more spaceships, and more soldiers."

"No matter how many of them come, if they dare to come, we dare to fight back. This is a life-or-death struggle; either they lose, or we fall."

After he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand, and the live broadcast ball flew above his palm.

The silvery-white sphere spun briefly in his palm before extinguishing.

The live broadcast signal was cut off.

All the screens on Earth simultaneously resumed normal programming, but no one watched them; everyone was processing what they had just witnessed.

Luo Fei didn't look at the bridge again. With a thought, he stood in the cockpit of the Eternal Falcon.

Li Xiulan sat on the chair, holding her white cat Xiaobai, her fingers unconsciously stroking the cat's back.

Seeing Luo Fei return, she stood up and walked to him, gently touching his cheek, sliding her hand from his forehead to his chin. Her eyes were red but she didn't shed a tear, only whispering, "Let's go home."

Little White jumped off her arms and squatted on the back of the chair, licking and grooming its ruffled fur.

Luo Weidong walked over from the bulkhead and patted Luo Fei on the shoulder expressionlessly.

Luo Fei put his hands on Li Xiulan and Luo Weidong's shoulders, gesturing for everyone to come closer.

After the group formed a circle, he had a thought and instantly returned to his home in Liuxi Village.

As soon as they got home, Xiaobai jumped from Li Xiulan's arms to the cat bed under the eaves and wagged its tail. Luo Fei heard her soft voice in his mind: "That feels good."

Li Xiulan took a deep breath, and finally shed tears of relief.

Luo Weidong put his arm around her shoulder and let her rest her head on his shoulder, trembling slightly.

Luo Ying placed her phone face down on the stone table, ignoring the hundreds of messages on the screen.

Zhao Lin ran to the corner of the yard to observe the Gathering Spirit Grass.

Luo Yumei sent a message to Liu Qiang from under the eaves: "We'll be back to work as usual the day after tomorrow, with the production line fully operational."

He then put his phone in his pocket.

Luo Fei did not stay in the courtyard for long.

He said something to Li Xiulan.

"Mom, I'm going to Kyoto. I'll be back soon."

Li Xiulan nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

With a thought, he found himself standing in the conference room of the Kyoto United Government Building.

The people in the meeting room had not yet left.

Director Qin stood beside the round table, with a thermos on it.

Representatives from various countries were either still seated, standing in the corridor making phone calls, or leaning against the wall smoking.

No one left, because they were all waiting for Luo Fei to return.

The moment Luo Fei appeared in the center of the conference room, everyone's eyes turned to him.

Someone stood up from the tiered seating. Director Qin placed his hand on the round table and leaned forward slightly.

Luo Fei didn't look at anyone else. His gaze swept over the round table, over the tiered seating, and finally settled on the third row.

The Japanese delegation was still sitting there, in the middle of the third row.

Their expressions were different from the others; they weren't tense, expectant, or relieved, but rather deathly pale. They had received the news: Japan was gone, wiped off the map completely within seconds.

Their families, their friends, their colleagues, their houses, their streets, their cities, their country's entire history, culture, and memories were all reduced to nothingness by those laser beams.

They can't even cry anymore, because tears have lost all meaning.

One of them had his head down, his hands gripping his trousers tightly at his knees, the fabric of his trousers forming two deep creases.

He was shaking all over.

The person next to me leaned back in his chair, head tilted back, eyes looking at the ceiling.

The third person was lying face down on the table, his hands covering his head, his shoulders shaking. He was crying, but he didn't make a sound.

Luo Fei looked at them and spoke coldly.

Everyone in the entire conference room could hear it.

"Take down the representative of Japanese chicken."